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South of France
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Basing ourselves in Montpellier for the week we took day trips to Avignon, Aix-En-Provence, Carcassonne, Nîmes, a brief stop in Marseille and Montpellier itself.
The Pont Vieux leads to one of my favourite spots of the whole journey, Carcassonne. It was such a shame it was way to expensive to stay inside the castle walls. It is a 14th century castle that sits on top of a hill in the the old town. The fortress, which was thoroughly restored from 1853 was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1997. Go here for more the website... http://www.carcassonne.org In Aix-En-Provence the Cours Mirabeau, a wide thoroughfare, planted with double rows of plane-trees, bordered by fine houses and decorated by fountains, divides the town into two portions. Aix is often referred to as the city of a thousand fountains. Among the more notable are the Fountain of the Four Dolphins, built in 1667, Le bon Roi René's Fountain, built in the 19th century, surmounted by a statue of Roi René holding a bunch of Muscat grapes, which he introduced into Provence in the 15th century; the hot-water fountain dating back to 1734, which is covered in moss due to the 35°C water; and the great fountain, from 1860, at La Rotonde, the large roundabout at the centre of town. Surrounded by these waterfalls were plenty of morning markets where all us girls managed to pick up a bargain or two. Paul Cézanne the famous Post-Impressionist painter was also born here. Then in 1901 he bought some land along the Lauves Road, an isolated road on some high ground at Aix, and commissioned a studio to be built there. From 1903 to the end of his life, he painted in his studio, working with other famous painters. After his death in 1906 it became a monument, Atelier Paul Cézanne.
Montpellier, home sweet home for 5 days. Our first day there we went for a walk around starting in Place de la Comédie and working our way around town to the 14th century cathedral of Saint-Pierre, the Porte du Peyrou - a triumphal arch, the Aqueduct of Saint Clément, and the Antigone District to try our first French wine in France! Nîmes which was once a Ancient Roman colony has a beautiful park (Jardins de la Fontaine)with loads of fountains and the ultra-cool Arena de Nîmes where they used to have old Roman gladiator tournaments and Spanish bullfights. It is now used as an ampitheatre and is about a third of the Roman Coloseum's size. Avignon is located on the Rhone River. It is still encircled by the ramparts built by its popes in the 14th century, one of the finest examples of medieval fortification in existence. The walls are surmounted by machicolated sattlements, flanked at intervals by thirty-nine massive towers and several gateways, three of which date from the 14th century. The Pont Saint-Bénézet ruined bridge from the 12th century runs over the stream. Only four of the eighteen piles are left on one of them stands as the small Romanesque chapel of Saint-Bénézet. We saw all of these wonderful sites by the super-touristy mini road-train that weaved its way throught the streets.
On the way to Milan we stopped overnight and stayed in a hostel at Nice (which we later found out had been held up the night before). Nice is located in the Côte d'Azur région and is the most popular tourist destination in the French Riveria, it also has a large migrant population of which Italians make up the majority as Italy used to own Nice some years ago. We missed out on seeing Eze's magical sunset but we did get to go to St Raphael and infamous Cannes the next day to laze about on the beaches like celebrities. More thumbnails ...
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